The Israeli war on the National Democratic Alliance

The current Israeli attack, mostly by the right-wing and particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, on the Arab members of the Knesset from the National Democratic Alliance party is considered a dangerous development in the campaign of targeting and exclusion launched against the Arab Palestinian community in Israel, as well as its national parties and elected representatives in the Knesset, municipal and village councils etc. The ruling right-wing may justify their campaign with the fact that MKs from the National Democratic Alliance visited the families of the martyrs who died in Jerusalem during a confrontation with occupation forces, and whose bodies are still being held by Israeli authorities.

MKs Jamal Zahalka, Hanin Zoabi and Basel Ghattas, from the National Democratic Alliance, accepted the invitation extended to them by the families of these martyrs to help them recover the bodies of these children, which are being held by the Israeli authorities who imposed very harsh conditions to return the bodies. This is an attempt on the authorities’ part to humiliate and punish these families after demolishing their homes as part of a policy of collective punishment.

Netanyahu (and the right-wing in Israel) chose the MKs from the National Democratic Alliance to escalate his attack on MKs because he believes it would be easy to gain the support of the Jewish community and its leaders. He thought this to be especially true because the right-wing institution in Israel has used its tools and security and media mouthpieces to work day and night to deepen the Jewish community’s feelings of hate towards the National Democratic Alliance’s leaders. This is justified by claims that the leaders and members of this party support the Palestinian resistance and refuse Israeli demands.

What is more dangerous about the current right-wing campaign against Zahalka, Zoabi and Ghattas is the attempt to bring them to trial and dismiss them from the Knesset, or to pass a law allowing the dismissal of elected MKs from the Knesset with the approval of 90 MKs. Hence, this would abolish the results of the free elections and the will of the Arab community who elected them to represent the Arabs in the Israeli Knesset.

By doing so, Netanyahu and the right-wing want to send a message, not only to the National Democratic Alliance members, but to all MKs on the Arab Joint List, that whatever is acceptable for Jewish MKs is not acceptable for Arab MKs and that the Jewish right-wing majority are the ones who determine the agenda of the Arab representatives elected into the Knesset. This means that the Arab MKs are not allowed to interfere in policies and security and that they must abandon their national Palestinian identity and their affiliation with the Arab Palestinian community, and give up their support for resisting the occupation. In addition to this, they are also sending the message that the Arab MKs cannot stand up against racism and extremism, as Zahalka did when he addressed Netanyahu in the Knesset and said, in reference to the Arabs: “We were here before you, and we’ll be here after you.”

Netanyahu and the right-wing want the role of the Arab representatives to be restricted to demanding some civil rights and to accept whatever the Jewish right-wing imposes on them. This only occurs in dictatorships, which have no relation whatsoever to the values of democracy.

The Israeli government took in the families of the criminals who committed the crime of burning the Dawabsheh family alive, and no measures were taken against them. Instead, they are funded and supported and the greatest proof of this is the fact that the Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, from the Jewish Home party, visited this family. However, it is prohibited for the Arab MKs to accept the invitation of families of martyrs whose bodies are being withheld to help them return their children’s bodies in order to bury them and pray for their souls, and it is considered a serious crime according to the Jewish democracy.

Therefore, it is required by all the Arab Palestinians in Israel, especially the members of the Arab Joint List, to be fully aware that the confrontation between the Israeli right-wing has entered a new phase and there is a need to take united steps to thwart this. They must also continue to uphold their responsibilities towards their people and the issues for which they were elected. In addition to this, all members of the Arab Joint List should have visited these families immediately after hearing Netanyahu’s incitement, as the right-wing project is not only limited to dismissing the National Democratic Alliance, but to eliminating all Arab MKs from the political and national scene by driving wedges between all of the Arab parties and singling them out one by one.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 8 February 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.